Total Environment Centre has been campaigning and providing information on toxic chemicals and safer alternatives for almost two decades.
Campaigns:
In 1983,TEC’s Toxic Chemicals Committee organised the first national conference on the toxic chemical load on the environment and human health. Later, it organised conferences on solvents, and in 1990 it broke new ground organising the Chemicals in Schools conferences. 1986 saw publication of ‘A-Z of Chemicals in the Home’ which is now in its third edition. In 1995 a 10-year campaign resulted in a ban on hazardous organochlorines for termite control in Australia. Our inventory of Sydney Harbour in 1996 showed gross sewerage and toxic chemical pollution, which led to the Government announcing a $400 million clean-up program for the harbour. In the same year, TEC exposed extensive contamination in residential areas outside Sydney’s oldest toxic waste dump at Castlereagh. TEC joined with local people in Gunnedah in 1997 to fight for better controls on aerial spraying of agricultural chemicals. In 1999, TEC released ‘Clearing the Air, Pesticide Spray Drift Kit’ to help communities combat chemical trespass. TEC has successfully campaigned for regulations to be developed to ensure the onus of responsibility for notification falls to the pesticide applicator, rather than place the onus on the public to seek out information about chemical releases in their vicinity. The NSW Pesticides Amendment Notification and Miscellaneous Matters) Regulation 2005 which regulates pesticide use in public places including schools, kindergartens and childcare centres will come into force from 1st January 2007.
Information:
We have established the largest independent toxic advice service in Australia. Our website ‘Toxic Chemicals in Your Environment’, was launched in 1997. In 2000 TEC published ‘The Toxic Playground’, a widely used guide to reducing the chemical load in schools and child care centres. Our work in 2002 was marked with release of ‘Safer Solutions a guide to integrated pest management for schools’. TEC is currently conducting a three year education program in partnership with the NSW Department of Environment and Conservation and funded through the NSW Government’s Environmental Trust. The Safer Solutions environmental education program is targeting the parents and carers of young children to increase their knowledge and understanding of the hazards of and alternatives to chemical exposures in and around the home. The program has developed a comprehensive website www.safersolutions.org.au.
Out of the laboratory and on to our plate
– Toxic foods? Friends of the Earth’s new report reveals high tech nanofoods pose toxic risks. Read more…
– State laws fail communities on toxic leaks. Pollution control laws. Total Environment Centre (TEC) today called on the NSW government to review pollution control laws after it was revealed that the Mona Vale toxic gas leak was only subject to local government consent. Read more…
– Alarm over release of toxic air pollutant in Northern Beaches. BeachTotal Environment Centre (TEC) and the National Toxics Network (NTN) today called on the NSW government to accept resident demands for an independent investigation of the hazards associated with the release of the carcinogen Ethylene Oxide, which was found to be emitted at levels up to 100 times over the safe limit from the sterilising facility of Unomedical’s Mona Vale factory. Read more…
– New laws for informing you before pesticides are used. Recent changes have been made to the Pesticides Regulation 1995 which now make it compulsory for three major groups of pesticide users to let you know when they use pesticides in certain public places:
– Public authorities, when using pesticides in outside public places.
– People who organise a professional pesticide treatment, to the common areas of flats and other multiple occupancy dwellings.
– Pest Management Technicians who apply pesticides in the common areas of flats and other multiple occupancy dwellings.
FULL DETAILS: here
TAKE ACTION!
Write a letter asking for the designation of more sensitive areas. You can use this sample letter. Read more… How do the new laws help me?
Read on to find exactly how the new laws make each of the above groups responsible for helping you to avoid contact with the pesticides that are used in your environment: